Telecommunications systems, cable television systems and data communication networks use optical networks to rapidly convey large amounts of information between remote points. In an optical network, information (“traffic”) is conveyed in the form of optical signals through optical fibers.
To satisfy the ever increasing demand of conveying information through optical networks, the spectral efficiency of optical networks may need to be increased. The spectral efficiency may refer to the amount of information that may be transmitted within the optical spectrum of the optical network and may be represented by bits per Hertz (bits/Hz). Spectral efficiency may be increased by using transmission media that may support a higher capacity of information modulated onto a wavelength.
However, the increased capacity may also increase the number of connections used to add information to or drop information from the network. The increased number of connections may commonly require regeneration of the optical signal to add or drop information within the network, thus causing inefficiencies.